With Swiatek's early exit, Sabalenka and Gauff's chances of reaching the world's No. 1 ranking have significantly increased.
In the third round of the Australian Open, Swiatek was unexpectedly defeated by the Czech teenager Nokova, revealing a major upset in this tournament. This defeat may have a great impact on the Polish star, especially Sabalenka and Gauff, who will gradually narrow her gap and approach the world's No. 1 throne.
Before the Australian Open, we have learned that no matter how the results of this tournament are, Swiatek will not lose the top spot. This is because she has accumulated a large lead over Sabalenka behind her.
In addition, thanks to the modification of the WTA point allocation rules, Swiatek received points from two events last year, with a total score close to the 10,000-point mark. Even though she was eliminated very early, her position is very safe in the short term, because she only needs to keep the points from the fourth round in Melbourne.
However, in the long term, Swiatek's world No. 1 position is not so stable. She had a lot of points to protect between February and mid-June, including two titles in Stuttgart and Roland Garros and two runners-up in Dubai and Madrid.
Meanwhile, Gauff's best results during this period last year were the quarterfinals at Indiana Wells and Roland Garros, and she has a good chance of becoming world No. 1 for the first time in her career. Winning the Australian Open would give her that opportunity.
If she can defend her title in Melbourne, Sabalenka can significantly narrow the gap between herself and Swiatek. But the task for the Belarusian stars is also quite arduous. There is still one event to defend in the first half of the season (Madrid), and there are two runner-up points to protect, one of which is the WTA1000 event in Indiana Wells.
Of course, this does not mean that she cannot compete for the world's No. 1 ranking, but Gauff has a greater chance of reaching the top. At present, the potential matchup between the two in the Australian Open semi-finals may determine their future trends.
